India vs Australia, 1st Test: Australia picked 2 off-spinners as they handed a debut to Todd Murphy who will partner senior spinner Nathan Lyon. Pat Cummins won the toss and Australia opted to bat on Day 1 in Nagpur.
New Delhi,UPDATED: Feb 9, 2023 09:31 IST
Todd Murphy was handed a Test debut by Australia in Nagpur (AFP Photo)
By India Today Web Desk: Australia handed a debut to debutant Todd Murphy for the first of the 4-Test series against India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Australia captain Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat first on what is expected to a spin-friendly pitch at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday, February 9.
Australia had picked as many as 4 spinners in their squad for the much-anticipated Test series. Nathan Lyon will lead the attack and fellow off-spinner Murphy has been picked in the 2-man spin attack. The visitors left out leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson and left-arm spinner Ashton Agar for the first Test.
Murphy, 22, has played 7 first-class matches for Victoria and picked up 29 wickets so far.
India vs Australia, 1st Test Day 1 updates
Meanwhile, Australia also left out in-form Travis Head to pick Peter Handscomb, who had performed well during Australia’s trip to India in 2017. Handscomb had last played Test match for India in 2019 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home.
Australia’s decision to drop Head might have been taken to cut out an extra left-hander in their batting unit which already has 4 left-handers in David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Matt Renshaw and wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey.
It remains to be seen how effective two off-spinners will be against the Indian batting unit, which will bat last on the Nagpur pitch, which has dominated headlines in the lead-up to the series opener.
Speaking about the Nagpur Test, Pat Cummins talked up their preparation and said the side is feeling confident. Notably, Australia had a 2-day spin camp in Sydney before they arrived in Bengaluru for a 4-day training camp where they simulated spin-friendly conditions.
Nagpur Test, Ind vs Aus 1st Test Playing XI
Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey (WK), Pat Cummins (C), Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
India: Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Srikar Bharat(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
